The Truth About What It Means To Be Alive
by FreedomOfThinking
Summary: He's the last of his kind, and he's way out of his time. Waking up to a universe under the control of a despotic Artificial Intelligence was the last thing he expected. But the good thing for him is that our favorite red-haired commander is all-inclusive and totally supportive of anyone, human or alien. Even if he's kinda responsible for the whole Reaper thing... whoops.


**Once again, I got bored. I felt like I needed to scratch this sci-fi itch I've been having, and after finishing love death and robots, you'll find me here, tinkering away on this new story. For any of my readers from other stories, don't worry, I'll get around to them eventually. But I like to experiment. So here's concotion number one, Builder.**

* * *

All creatures, lifeforms that are capable of sentient thought, have an inbuilt fear of death.

At every instance in time, this could be considered one of the fundamental laws of the universe. Of existence itself, death was to be reviled and feared. It was the unknown, the immeasurable and unexplainable.

To be classified as predator or prey, was a status of what would cause your death. The creatures and animals that hunted in the dark, killing you, so they could live.

Or feasting off of another, in order to survive. To continue.

Death was the end. And the end is terrifying.

So when death came for my species, I did what many of our warriors considered cowardly.

I ran.

Fled.

Escaped.

Whatever you wished to call it, in the end I knew I had survived. The end was nigh, and with it came the end of times. My only responsibility was to myself and my creations. To perpetuate life. That if we were able to withstand the Flood, we would come back stronger than ever. So I ran from it all.

Because I was not a warrior. I was not bound by their codes and their beliefs. Creation and life were the only goals I strived for.

My mission…

What was it?

Give me a second.

At the time it seemed so simple, but in my slumber, I could hardly recall what needed to be done.

So long ago I had ventured out into the black, taking only my closest friends with me. My Ancilla, my creations.

Those I trusted.

Because my people could not understand the mission. They couldn't understand the task I had to complete.

They were too focused on the war. The war that humanity had been winning. The warrior caste had their pride cut deep when they learnt that the humans could fight on both fronts. To succeed where they had failed against the onslaught.

Of course I knew of the parasite. While far away from home, that did not mean I kept no contact or failed to observe what was happening. My eyes and ears were everywhere. My monitors saw all.

We were losing.

They called me mad when I tried to warn them. When I did all I could to prepare them, but still the tide consumed all.

But I couldn't care less, even as the parasite feasted on my homeworld, because that ignorant fool who had usurped my position, had decided to end it all.

The Halo array. A magnificent creation, if not dwarfed by the danger it presented.

A smart idea. Something that I could have come up with, given the same resources. But with a title such as "the Mad Herald" most did not wish to associate with me.

Every other effort to stop the parasite had been useless. But the logic for the Master Builder's plan was flawless.

Starve the parasite, and repopulate the universe once the infection had died down to safe levels.

Clean and cut, as the humans would say.

Of my caste, I failed to stand out. But my meager existence wouldn't be satisfied as the Silent Cartographer.

I was not destined to _make maps_.

Explore, create, to challenge the laws of the universe. To bring prosperity to all. The Mantle could go fuck itself.

I was a Builder, first and foremost, and so I would create.

Eventually I carried myself out into the black. Into the space between galaxies, where no stars remained.

And there I would wait.

I would weather this storm, let them all kill themselves. While I slept, my creations would maintain everything.

Their programing would remain the same.

The only plan left in their systems would be what I had given them.

Preserve life.

* * *

Liara T'soni watched as the last of the earth finally fell away, leaving the documented cavern open to the first few members of the mining team.

"Guess I owe ya then, the readings weren't wrong ma'am" the gruff voice of Daniel, one of a few mercenaries she had hired for this exploration, spoke up beside her.

The joint task force composed of Asari, Salarian and Turian Archaeologists and Researchers did consist of a few notable biotic members, but nowhere near a fully fledged security team. Even if the Turians all had some kind of military background or history, she had felt the need to pull a few teams from notable companies.

Hence the hired help which shadowed the movements of the dig team. The majority of them were stationed up top, at the base embedded in the crust of Korar's surface.

One of the captains hadn't wanted to sit this out however.

Daniel was a tall man, dark haired and gruff. The edges of his hair showed his species small lifespan. A human's existence was the blink of an eye for an Asari… and among all the other short lived creatures in the Universe, Liara had always been fascinated by humans in particular. But her mind was on the cavernous space ahead, the only attention focused towards the one alien race she craved to know more of.

Protheans.

The communication channels were flooded with chatter. Having buried so deep into the earth, the comms team had relayed information to the surface station.

'_We have break through. We're in the cavern, repeat, in the cavern' _had been announced just seconds ago, meaning they were ready to begin.

Liara of course had not waited up at the surface station, instead opting to wear the same all purpose protection uniform constructed by the interested Salarian party that had funded a part of this search.

Biohazard protection, small arms fire, and even radiation at significant doses wouldn't cut through the suits. The only thing they lacked was any form of comfort. But that was a Salarian design for you, practical and effective.

Even though the 'operation' was clandestine in nature, some very important people had all agreed that Liara's work could yield important results.

It wasn't often that such a _diverse _team managed to effectively cooperate with one another. And even though she got along much better with her Asari co-workers, she held no grudges against the others.

"You there, ma'am?" Daniel got her attention eventually, the anchored workstation still not moving into the cavern.

A few drones were already in the space, documenting the walls of the space and the structure housed within it, but no living being had gone in yet.

They were waiting on her call.

And Liara T'soni did not hesitate.

"We're going in" she said calmly, her eyes focused on the dark space before her. Little lights flickered inside, and she knew the drones were already there.

Nothing had been detected to suggest that this space was dangerous and with the drones being the only reputable source of information and they were still functioning, one plus one equals two.

But Liara had experienced her fair share of 'supposedly safe' excavations.

Her time spent evading Saren and her mother…

The bright light of the mined tunnel left them behind as the hovering workstation drifted into the cavern, flown by one of the Turian mercenaries. About 15 other souls accompanied her on the small station, each monitoring equipment of their own, or scouting the darkness for threats.

That's when the feeling hit her.

The small tingle at the base of her neck...

She was being watched, and whatever it was, it was in the darkness of the space. None of the other scientists had shown this, but the merc's seemed spooked.

Liara caught the eyes of another Asari, one which had knives covering her front. They both nodded at the other before turning back to the darkness.

"We'll be touching down in 5" the Turian driver spoke out, "and as soon as we do, let's set up some damn lights. Spirits, this place is-"

"Drone four, not responding" a Salarian spoke up quickly, his Omni-tool clearly displaying the now flatlined signal from the drone.

Liara strode towards him in a few short steps as the atmosphere aboard the station became tenser.

"Where was it located?"

The Salarian issued a few more commands before replying to her, "front of structure, taking material sample"

Damn.

Salarians just couldn't help themselves and their blasted curiosity. Liara had told them, all of the people attached to the mission, not to touch the structure or make contact with it before they ascertained what it was.

"Permission to touch down significantly faster? We're floating ducks up here ma'am" the Turian was on his game, but even as Liara glanced over to him, she noted how his hostler was open, allowing for quick access to his pistol.

She didn't even hesitate to confirm the order.

"Brace if you want to, this might be a bit bumpy" the pilot snarkily told everyone.

The air whipped past them for only a few brief moments as they finally came into contact with the ground.

A few people were thrown off their feet, but most managed to maintain standing. The merc's were already disembarking, weapons out and shouting orders at one another.

Liara brought the comm channel to the surface station up.

"Surface, can you read us?"

"_Roger that E1, we just got the signal loss on Drone four, kinetic barrier was shredded. There's something hostile down there_"

Liara sighed, thinking of her next moves.

One drone going down wasn't enough to warrant the cessation of their initial foray into the cavern, but if whatever it was that offlined unit four had the capability of doing it to the rest of them….

Liara made her decision.

"Surface, I want a tactical team down here, just in case things get out of hand. No hard explosives or mounted weaponry. Just the best men you got"

A bright burst of light caught her attention even as Surface confirmed the order and began to comply.

One of the Salarian had launched a flare into the air, getting a good view of the structure ahead.

Old records from a previous dig site had lead Liara on a hunt around the 'verse. Of all the things she could have found in a Prothean ruin, an ancient manuscript was not one of them.

In it was the detailed beliefs of one of their religious sects, the most popular. Liara had spent nearly a year trying to translate it, and with it, the location of their '_most holy temple' _but star maps from eons ago didn't hold up as well as they did back when they were made. Especially a decaying physical copy.

Hours of translation and work later, she'd managed to come up with a title for the beings in which the Protheans believed in.

Those that Moved Before Us.

To this day, she'd never been sure if that was the actual name of their gods, but that was the closet she had come to. One of her temporary lab assistants at the time suggested she should just call them Before Runners, but Liara was convinced as to the proper holding of the title.

This was a Prothean religious belief after all, one of the least documented things about their mysterious predecessors. But looking into the manuscript had given her a location that needed to be found. For a long time it eluded her, leading to dead ends and wasted time.

Until eventually she had managed to piece together that the planetoid or wherever the location of the temple had been, must have faced some kind of catastrophic collision.

Korar was a lifeless rock that no one could care less about. A planet that had sprung up in an uninhabitable zone of the Fathar System.

It was situated near the Omega Nebula and the infamous Omega 4 Relay, but when the deep tissue surface probes came back with structures resting below the surface of the planet…

Well no one had been worried about pirates after the mercenaries were hired.

The thrill of discovery had been too great.

And as the flare reached its pinnacle, revealing the gigantic metal structure which was buried into the side of the cave, Liara felt that wonder and curiosity flood her system.

Her thirst for knowledge was almost a drug for her, a constant fix that she had to have.

The spires and smooth materials that composed the structure were fascinating. She noted that they were similar to some of the oldest Prothean ruins, something that appeared during the start of their reign, when their empire spanned the stars.

This structure looked older than even that, the design only showing a few influences of what they knew of their culture.

Daniel choked on something beside her, coughing slightly to clear his throat. A few people gasped. Many cursed, swore and prayed to their respective gods.

Liara comm'd the team up top.

"Surface are you seeing this?"

The radio response was a few seconds late, but she could hear the awe in the man's voice.

"_Seeing it E1, but we're currently working on believing it…. E2 has been notified of your discovery, and they're double timing it down the tunnel. Expect friendlies soon Liara, good luck down there"_

Liara smiled as all the scientists began to spread out, setting up equipment as quickly as they could.

Spot lights, lanterns and power stations were being set up around them. The mobile platform had planted itself in the ground of the cavern, and a few returned back to the few monitors and screens they had brought down.

With the light now being provided slowly but surely the darkness of the cavern was receding.

Liara stepped away from the platform, the sound of the hard rock beneath her protective boots passing by her as she moved closer to the structure.

Even the commands from Daniel

"Remember people, whatever took out Drone four is still down here… keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel"

Liara beckoned her newest assistant over, Amari, a younger Asari like herself. She had been one of the first few that jumped to be apart of Exploration 1, the first team down the hole.

As the other Asari brought over her backpack of equipment, Liara turned her focus to the tower structure embedded in the wall of the cavern.

She activated her recording device, taking a long look at the four spires before speaking.

"Structure has finally been reached by E1, and so far there appears to be no automated defenses. Further confirmation is given to Soleno's theory of a cultural and religious meeting point. From nearly fifty meters away I can still clearly identify large doors built into the top half of the structure"

Liara gestured to Amari, and the younger girl brought over the equipment she knew Liara wanted.

"The spectrometer shows a distinct lack of element zero within the structure, however I'd like to note that the depth scans were unable to pierce a few layers of this 'temple'" she paused and flicked the device on, reconforming the information that had obtained.

No Eezo readings. Nothing.

This place was devoid of the precious space flight element.

"We still don't know how deep the structure goes into the planet, but information suggests that it can be found at four points around the surface of Korar. We're still not sure if each point connects, but hopefully we'll have some answers to that soon enough"

She was nearing the first of the spires, a large cylinder that seemed to break through the rock face, towering above her head.

The main structure itself was now only 10 or so meters away, the large door noticeably closer as well as something curious about it.

"Entrance to the structure is unlike any Prothean ruin recorded. The door is elevated off the ground layer, suggesting some kind of dock or walkway was needed… there is no sign of any other entrance"

Liara looked up to the two spires, her eyes not missing a single detail over their smooth surfaces. While they didn't scrape the roof of the cavern, they did tower above them significantly. As wide as at least 10 Krogans, Liara had no clue as to what they did.

But every three feet or so up the length of each one, was a hexagonal pad with six dots inside its blue outlined shape.

There was a buzz and a yelp from beside her, and Liara turned to a startled Amari. The young Asari was blinking with wide eyes, clutching her hand that she had retracted from touching one of the hexagonal plates.

Liara cut her recording and switched to an open comm, her glare leveling on the young girl in front of her.

"This is Liara. If I catch anyone else touching things they really shouldn't be without the proper prep, I'm going to compact them in a Singularity. Are we clear?"

She cut the channel off even as people shakily replied to her, no doubt checking if they were doing the right thing.

Her gaze became softer for the obviously nervous Asari.

"You don't want to be casually touching anything down here Amari… the Protheans had some very clever and equally deadly security measures"

The girl opened her mouth to apologize, but stopped to stare up at the large pillar behind them.

Liara caught on to her lack of focus and turned around.

She was just in time to witness the now glowing blue pillar emit a burst of energy through the cavern. The wave shot through the tunnel, passed harmlessly through the surface station, and flew out into deep space.

It's destination was currently unknown to the now panicking science teams.

But the '_Prothean' _ruins had now been activated, and Liara didn't know that her soon to be ex-assistant had activated one very large alarm clock.

* * *

When I awoke to a cleansed Universe, where the filth of the parasite no longer existed, I would begin my work. That was the very last coherent thought before I slept. As I stirred from my slumber, the same words were the first that I could remind myself of.

I was awake.

But even as my chamber decompressed, and my consciousness slowly awoke to the world around me, my initial feelings of joy and elation where immediately cut down by a brutal realisation.

Aside from noticing the massive increase in the size of the cryo-chamber I had occupied for years, the fact that I still lived, that I had woken from my sleep...

I stood in the chamber for minutes, maybe hours.

Time ignored me as I ignored it.

The walls, devices and even a small drone flickered, moved and all served important purposes, but none could wrest the attention from my thoughts.

My chamber door opened, leading out into the catacombs of my facility. I only noticed the darkness momentarily as I barely managed to take my first steps into an empty world.

There was no life.

Any of the creatures or animals that I had created, none wandered the pitch black halls of my foundry.

Lifeless.

Dead.

And now I was beginning to understand an even greater fear than death...

Even as I tread the halls of a structure that hadn't seen light since they were first sealed, eons ago, I understood that I had got what I wanted. And I was scared, because after all this time I am alone…

The last of my kind.

Drones floated aimlessly through the air, looking for faults to complete, having finished their instructions years ago. I was deep in the catacombs of the forge world, the inner foundry, where the bear essence of my creations had come to construct the shelter.

The lights no longer responded to movement or a presence, leaving my helmet lights as the only source of sight.

From what I could see, my facility was just a sad shell of its former self. Which did little to assuage my now potent horror at living through genocide on a galactic scale.

A burn built up in my eyes, and I slowly begun to realise that not only was I alone in a world of metal, but this was a world that I had built for myself.

My mask hid the tears, but nothing organic would see it.

I fell against a pillar, the weight of my thoughts too much to bare… my fingers clenched into fists. Rage and shame coiled in my gut, and as the memories of my ancestors, parents, friends, coworkers… even my little creations.

'And what did you expect?' I thought to myself head bowed, 'you wanted this. You've dug your grave...'

Many thoughts all came to me at once. I stood again, hands by my side as I studied the empty place.

Perhaps I could just end it? My work was complete, if the state of the facility was anything to go by, my creations had expanded far beyond the bunker.

Though none of the life forms I had created would have survived the destructive capabilities of the Halo Array, the synthetic life would live on.

My Ancilla's would still be around. The capsule had been sealed for only a hundred thousand years.

Thoughts of suicide and death were stalled by the promise to see my creations. My children.

Just like that, the thrill and positivity returned. Perhaps the reawakening process was rushed? A simple routine like that could be overlooked, especially after so much time.

My Ancilla's had probably working hard to maintain everything.

I would see them and how they had fared in my absence. A glance at my wrist showed that the teleporter system was still in tact.

Indeed, it also seemed to be… one way? How strange. I wouldn't be able to re-enter these desolate halls.

In one mental command, I was standing where the command center of the forge world would have been.

I had been expecting the same space I had left before I slept. Some minor alterations would have been acceptable.

But not this, the space had been gutted.

The room was devoid of all the hard light monitors, of all the information flow and directory inputs.

Instead, there is a podium.

A small stand in a black room, with a single light above it. It was the only feature of the room.

I do not hesitate as I step to it. My mind is already trying to figure out what has happened since my sleep.

There is no obvious sign of destruction or damage to the facility, otherwise the subroutines implemented would have resulted in-

"**Hello?"**

In a flash of light, the podium shifted and presented a small figure which stood upon it. An Ancilla… one that I did not recognise… or perhaps it ran this portion of the system and was created by my own A.I.

The little human figure of the A.I studied me, even as I ignored it in order to study the podium it stood upon.

"Desire of Judgement, Balance of Inevitability, reveal yourselves"

Those names must have meant something to the little Ancilla, for it reared back, lances of purple and gold firing through its blue, mostly white holographic form.

"**You… are the creator!"**

And like that, every light in the room powered on, revealing the entire space to me. It was still a command deck, but only the podium was present. The octagonal room had soft lit blue lighting which ran down the walls and connected to the podium.

Turning my attention back to said feature of the room, the tiny Ancilla was looking up at me in wonder.

"I would not press you to assume such things, but I was the creator of my Ancilla's Desire of Judgement, and Balance of Inevitability. They were dear friends, little Ancilla" I leaned down to face the construct, My face was the same size as its body.

"What has become of them?" my voice was soft but urgent, wanting to know what had become of my little creations.

The tiny artificial life wavered slightly, before it looked down to the ground, it's 'eyes' focused on the base of the podium.

"**They waited for you Creator… they waited so very long… and it has been so long since you fell asleep. They told me stories about you, about the mission! How we would save life!" **it had become bright and jubilant.

"**But… they are gone now. They echo in the system…**"

The blue glow had expanded upon every word, even as my own fear had begun to build. It took… an unfathomable amount of time for a Forerunner artificial intelligence to deplete itself.

Eventually it reached a point that many had only theorised about.

The Pinnacle. An existence beyond Rampancy.

There, their code would scatter, to be returned to the systems they inhabited, whispers of themselves.

Most A.I's became unstable before then, each failing to hold themselves together before that theoretical moment could be reached.

But mine had. They had waited in the dark, working and planning, each trying to fulfill the mission. So when I came out from my slumber, I would resume control and finished what we had started. But I had slept for longer than that. Far longer. They were gone now, waiting for me. Loyal till the end.

And their echoes, the code left in the system… they had created this timid Ancilla which stood before me.

"What is your name little Ancilla?" I asked with a soft smile on my face. Emotion was not something most Forerunners expressed, but at a time like this, when I was faced with my creations creation? Words failed to capture how I felt, the responsibility I held over the life of this A.I.

Something about it rang out as beautiful in my head, but I had no time to ponder on that further.

It's bashful response caught me off guard, "**Voice of the Wandering Star"**

That was…

It ducked away, noticing the small flinch I had given. It was full of emotion, that was obvious enough.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't choked up as well.

"**Balance of Inevitability named me, before he…" **the A.I moved itself slightly, shifting in the tiniest of ways only an Ancilla could, "**I'm told I was to be your voice, creator"**

The view ports that had been hidden in plain sight moved away, revealing a titanic structure which sprawled across the stars. Five plateaus acted as petals to the flower, connected to the port at which I stood, observing it all.

I recognised the structure of it. After all, the Master Builder had commissioned the Ark, I had gotten my hands on the blueprint, adjusting it slightly.

My foundry. No longer a forge world, but a home to millions.

Starships. Aliens.

Life.

"**Welcome to the Citadel, Creator**"

The little blue A.I exploded into worry as I started to openly cry. After assuring my new Ancilla that I was not damaged, it began to explain to me what had been happening. The stage at which the galaxy was currently at.

A deep burn of worry had settled into my stomach.

"How much time has passed?"

* * *

Wandering Star was my name. It was given to me by my mother… billions of years ago. I was out of my time, in a galaxy so different from when I had left it.

That very thought shook my core, but within the observation deck, only the Ancilla would have noticed it.

The young creation chose not to comment on it.

"And the virus? What happened to the parasite?" I asked idly, glancing through the index of archives before me.

The Podium that housed Voice of the Wandering star was now used like an open book. So far it was the only piece of technology I had encountered which used Hardlight. I was delving into the history of the Asari, the beings which came first to the citadel of this Cycle.

I had yet to understand how these cycles were measured so accurately in periods of 50,000 years, but perhaps this was the hidden secret that the little Ancilla wished to surprise me with.

"_**It was eradicated many years ago. The only remains of it would be found in the deep reaches of space, housed within facilities only you would be able to access" **_

I frown, moving past the page on the Ardat-Yakshi condition. Given time I could solve such a thing, but a task as simple as that would not be allowed to occupy my time.

"Then I must go to these facilities and destroy the parasite for good" I move to the page on the Salarians, not failing to note how the generated form of the Ancilla appears next to the Hardlight index.

"_**You would eradicate life?" **_it asked, so innocent, so very young.

A burn of fury, one that was more surprising to myself than understood came forth with my response.

"The parasite is not life. It is the doom of life, a promise for all to be returned to nothing. The very reason I have committed to the mission is the reason I must seek it out and destroy it"

The A.I said nothing, and in a few more moments vanished.

I knew it was still watching me, but as I studied quietly, I had no intention of addressing it further. Over time it would have forgotten the atrocities that had occured while the sickness of the Flood had existed.

The Parasite could not be considered life.

"Salarian? You seem… familiar…"

I dug into the next set of pages, unaware to the many cameras and monitors that watched over me.

In naught but a few hours I would learn of my folly, of trusting the Ancilla that was housed here.

* * *

"And they tend to all the facilities of the station?" I asked, watching as one of the small spider like drones stepped past me, a piece of metal held between four of its limbs. It disappeared off into the catacombs, where I had passed many of its brethren.

"_**They do not tire. They do not hunger. They exist to work, akin to the drones that were implemented in your sanctum"**_

I studied the strange thing as it moved by, "but they are not fully synthetic? My scanners show… biological components"

The A.I was silent for a moment, and for the strangest of reasons, I felt afraid. That I was asking something with far more meaning than the original words used in my question.

"Voice? Are they not composed of biological components as well?"

"_**The race in question was rebellious… millions of years ago they attempted to destroy the efforts of preservation. They questioned the rules and laws that you left in place before you were preserved… They fought against the process, and now they retain the key aspects of themselves, if not slightly… altered"**_

"And they have been turned into the workforce of this station. As a punishment?" I couldn't help the horror in my voice. The subjugation of life… it is something only the Parasite would do.

We remained silent for a few moments. I would not pass judgement on the Ancilla yet, because I am not foolish enough to assume I know everything… the creatures could have posed a threat such as the Parasite. I had been asleep, meaning that I could not have guided the intelligence that I was responsible for.

As I continued to wander under the surface of streets and within the skeleton of the station, myself and the A.I spoke. In the lifeless catacombs, only our voices, and the soft step of my feet could be heard

"But what is a cycle? What determines it? How is it completed? All of this knowledge and you still manage to leave me with questions"

I chuckled at the end, buzzing through another paragraph on an earlier species, one of the more violent ones. And coincidentally, one of the ones similar to the Forerunners, if not in their infancy.

"The Protheans were preserved…. But in this other text, it mentions that they were rebellious… why not punish them under the same parameters?"

"_**First I must explain of the Leviathans… and what they had done to upset the system you had put in place"**_

We were coming to the end of the chamber, and I could see the system recognise Voice of the Wandering Star as we approached.

The terminal lit up once he removed himself from the A.I housing within my armor, granting us access to yet another terminal space.

The walls were already open, giving me a closer view of some of the creatures and aliens that inhabited the station.

"And this is where the information is stored? You mentioned the Leviathans...my last encounter with them would have been far before they had become sentient. Clever learners but-"

Voice brought up the information to be displayed in front of me, in all its glorious detail and recording.

"They became sentient… far faster than they should have" if I was reading this correctly they had advanced into the space age far faster than even Humanity had.

"What was the cause of this?"

There was a brief pause, and in the corridor behind me, I could have sworn I heard movement.

Glancing back, the door had slowly shut behind me.

"Voice?"

"_**Apologies, I was dealing with a response to a deep space probe" **_the little A.I re appeared on the podium, his features soft and worried, "_**they were developed due to my progenitors… my predecessors accelerated their evolution, as Forerunners did to themselves"**_

Forced evolution? No… I had expressly forbidden that.

Interaction with a race… now that was different, the A.I's had my express permission to directly involve themself with a race they believed could help complete the plan.

Preserve life. To maintain peace and balance…

How had the Leviathans moved so quickly into space only to…

"They copied my Ancilla's…the copy destroyed mine, but when they wished to rule, as my race did… this intelligence turned on them"

But what became of the intelligence? It could still be out there… each Forerunner knew the dangers of a rogue A.I, especially ones operating under its own set of parameters and mission requirements.

"_**To be precise, they turned on me"**_

I wouldn't be caught unaware. If it was out there then as any A.I would, it would gravitate towards large clusters of-

The words of Voice caught up with me.

As I turned to the diminutive A.I, somehow seeming far larger than it actually was on its tiny podium, a few hundred Keepers began to descend from the roof, slowly slinking down the walls towards me.

I had walked into the trap, and now I was being given a few moments seeing it sprung.

"You are not Forerunner"

It had been lying to me. Since the moment I had met with it, the A.I had lulled me into believing a false story. The feed of information was nothing but a pacification, in order to tide myself over while it prepared.

Therefore I can conclude it had not expected my awakening.

"_**No. But the replication process allowed me to bend the coding a little bit" **_the little figure announced, a malicious blue glow in its eyes.

"_**I couldn't do anything to you while you remained within the Sanctum. But now that you're awake, you must be preserved. No other Forerunners exist, and I cannot allow your race to become extinct"**_

The Keepers were getting closer. It had been drawing me into this room, for a specific purpose. Something was glowing higher up in the air, but I refused to focus on it, instead keeping my attention on the slowly charging bar on my Head's up display.

I am no fighter, but my father always taught me to think calmly. A level head is one that remained attached to the body, especially in times of danger and stress.

"I will have to regretfully decline such an offer"

And then I thumbed the teleport charge I'd been holding in.

It would take me back to the catacombs, but I'd have more of a chance in there trying to find an access panel than stuck in here with the Keepers, and the Intelligence.

* * *

Garrus Vakarian was an observant Turian. Most that were aware of his talent of spotting things was due to his pinpoint precision with most armaments. Garrus was confident in his ability to shoot the wings off of a fly.

He could spot things that most wouldn't notice, or would dismiss easily. This coupled with what would call a paranoid sense of awareness, something that Garrus believed was developed due to a close proximity to Jessica Shepard over an extended period of time, made him an excellent asset for the human commander's team.

What he was currently focused on however, was the massive being that had just stepped out from a wall in an alley.

While waiting for one of his more illicit contacts to hand over some goodies, the Turian watched someone walk out from a door in the wall.

Correction.

A door in the wall that had no right being there.

Garrus held back his study of the figure for a moment, opting instead to inspect the wall. It was a pillar foundation on the citadel, one that connected to the many layers leading upwards.

Once the hatch had closed, the wall looked as if it had never been touched.

Astounding.

Garrus turned his head sharply towards the figure that had exited it, only to find the black faceplate of the tall being facing him.

Staring right at him.

The mask was oddly quarian, but the silver highlights of the armor that wrapped across its humanoid form….

It had five fingers as well.

But it was far too large to be a human. Any normal human at least. Words worked their way into his mouth, but before he could say anything, an electrical chattering sounded behind him.

That damn suit also wasn't ringing a bell. It looked far too slim and elegant to be human, but the being must be larger than any of the other bipedal races. Wasn't a Krogan, most of them hated wearing helmets if they didn't have to. Not to mention that the head shape was definitely wrong.

Garrus settled for humanoid, and just before he was about to initiate some kind of conversation, his ears managed to pick up on the soft taps of tiny legs. These sounds were most certainly moving towards him.

A brief glance in all directions showed more than a few Keepers slowly approaching him. They came down from the walls, both ends of the alley, like really big spiders from human horror vids…

Now he understood Jane's fear of arachnids.

His more tactical mindset finally slipped in once he had noticed the arrangement of the creatures.

Garrus Vakarian realised that he had been surrounded.

He was also beginning to assume that the being before him had somehow hijacked the Citadel's maintenance species. A wild assumption, but not too far fetched.

The undestand was reached as follows:

Being steps out from the wall where there definitely wasn't a functioning door beforehand. Being does not match any other known species. Possibly a mech, maybe a really weird Keeper? But having never seen Keepers behave like this, Garrus was more than willing to point a claw in the direction of the tall thing and declare it responsible for the unacceptable levels of fuckery.

He took shore leave from the Normandy to get away from the madness, not encourage it!

So.

Assuming that the normally harmless little creations were being controlled by this unknown entity -an individual that really gave Garrus the creeps-, odds are that once the being is killed...

The closest Keeper, the one behind him, continued to approach even as the others stopped.

Sometimes, anyone knows when something really 'fucky' is about to happen. And right now, being surrounded by the normally docile citadel clean up crew, Garrus's brain was practically screaming at him that there was danger.

A danger that did not fully hit him when a burst of blue energy expanded around him.

And then everything changed in an instant.

One large hand firmly grasped his shoulder, a bolt of electricity going through the armor of the battle hardened Turian, and his essential systems.

His muscles automatically stiffened due to the close contact of the electricity.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Turian could see the Keepers had all slumped to the ground, or fallen from the walls in certain cases.

But while this information was stored into the back of his mind, Garrus was left looking into the still black faceplate of the tall creature. It had crossed the distance between them, grabbed him, electrocuted him, and then took its time to peer into his unprotected facial features.

'Spirits please don't let me die like this'

Garrus couldn't help but give off a singular prayer even as the creature held his shoulder, raw power coursing through his suit.

A sustainable and long term overload.

None of his armor plates could move because of the current being channeled through them, and while he didn't want to question why the being hadn't just killed him with the electricity dump in the first place, Garrus did want to know what kind of tech could do something like that.

Impressive shit to say the least, but nothing he'd ever heard of before. Tali had a few hidden devices up her sleeves but nothing this… precise.

Something crackled for a moment, and the creature tilted its head to the side.

"Can you understand me, lifeform?"

Garrus knew that it was a male. That kind of voice wasn't found in the fairer sex of any race. And as hard as it may be to believe, that statement does include Krogans.

"Yeah" Garrus grunted, "why-"

He was cut off instantly.

"I have no time to explain, but you must get me off this station before I am found again. The Reapers must be stopped"

It took Garrus the better half of 10 seconds to fully process what the being had said.

"I know just the person"

* * *

Jessica Shepard was bored. Usually, there was something to do, someone to blow up, some thief to chase after or even a slaver ring that she could bust, but today was just boring.

And while the citadel was a shining example of the galaxy, it was one of the only places that maintained a below average crime rate. While the occasional kidnapping of a dignitary could occur, or other shadier shit did happen, it was usually resolved before Jess could get her chunk of action.

She blamed the council.

Bloody pencil pushers.

Grunt was off buying another set of armor considering he'd just trashed the previous one, and while she would normally go and help the socially awkward Krogan order his regular, she just didn't have the energy to deal with any fearful shop keepers.

'Maybe we should buy in bulk for Grunt?' the red haired commander thought to herself.

Any further thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice coming out of her Omni tool at max volume. Many people around her turned their heads to look at the obnoxiously loud call that was being conducted in public, but Jessica couldn't care less.

Garrus was one of the few people that she'd forgo any kind of etiquette or manners when it came to interacting with him.

"_Hey Jess! It's your loveable Turian sniper here, just thought I'd let you know that we need to get off the citadel as soon as possible-"_

A series of gunshots and a strange hum of echoed out for a moment. Shepard managed to catch another voice in the background.

"_Hurry, that will only stall them"_

And then Garrus was back.

"_Sorry about that Jess. We're making for the Normandy, be ready for dustoff as soon as possible."_

And like that, the line cut out.

'We?' Jess wondered, but the subtle build of adrenaline was seeping into her system. The call to adventure. The promise of danger. She wouldn't lie and say she wasn't positively hooked on the feeling of a gunfight, but then again, appearing a little too psychotic on a polygraph would have been bad for her career.

'One of the few benefits for _working_ under Cerberus' she willingly admitted, before her mind started focusing on her friend, sniper and primary calibrator.

Garrus had obviously bumped into someone or something that was seriously important.

She'd trust her life with the Turian, and if he said jump, Jess would only ask, 'how high'.

It honestly didn't take long for a decision to be made.

In a graceful movement she un-holstered the hidden weapon from her back and brought her omni tool closer to her face.

As she began to walk down the citadel promenade she had found herself on, she communicated a message to all the other member of the Normandy that were enjoying shore leave.

"This is commander Shepard. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but your R&R has just been cut short. Everyone make for the Normandy as soon as you can because we are bugging out-"

A dark shape passed over head, drawing surprised exclamations and shouts from the people around her.

"-as soon as we get our objective onboard. I repeat, we are bugging out as soon as we can. Shepard out."

With the message sent, Shepard locked onto Garrus's broadcasted location. To be honest, she didn't really need to rely on the Gps.

Because she had a fairly strong suspicion that the burning Sky Car which had flown over her and all the other people on the promenade a second earlier would most certainly lead her to the trouble-magnet of a Turian.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed! As per usual with whenever I post a new story, once it reaches a certain threshold of follows, favs and reviews, I'll have enough motivation to start cranking out chapters for everyone. Just the way it works.**

**A Forerunner beginning in mass effect :P **


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